Volkanovski's Super-Fight Options, Reyes vs DC, and Pereira's Backup Plan

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

• Dana White leaves door open for Alexander Volkanovski fighting for lightweight title (MMA Weekly)
• Volkanovski's coach accepts fight against Charles do Bronx, but jabs (Ag. Fight (BR))
• Arman Tsarukyan: Justin Gaethje ‘trying to duck me,’ open to Alexander Volkanovski vacant title fight (MMA Fighting)
• Dana White opens the door for super-fight between Volkanovski and Gaethje (Ag. Fight (BR))
• Alexander Volkanovski calls for lightweight rematch with Ilia Topuria to ‘test himself’ after UFC 333 (BJPenn.com)
• Ex-UFC fighter Khusein Askhabov loses win, gets 12-month suspension (Sherdog)
• UFC veteran disqualified for ‘serious violation,’ TKO win overturned (MMA Fighting)
• Former UFC Fighter’s TKO Win Overturned to Disqualification (MMA News)
• Merab Dvalishvili releases statement following UFC 333 loss (MMA Weekly)
• Healthy, motivated Merab issues first statement following Petr Yan title loss at UFC 333 (MMA Mania)
• Merab Dvalishvili shares plans for his return in first statement since Petr Yan loss at UFC 333 (Bloody Elbow)
• Longtime Octagon vet says he'll retire at UFC Vegas 123, win or lose (Sherdog)
• Julian Erosa announces retirement fight ahead of UFC Vegas 123, ‘Fighting used to be my life’ (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Alexander Volkanovski refused medication before UFC 333 title win (Sherdog)
• Undefeated 20-0 PFL, Rizin champ wants Alexander Volkanovski (Sherdog)
• Undefeated 20-0 PFL, Rizin champ wants Alexander Volkanovski (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Alex Pereira expects Sergei Pavlovich to turn to wrestling at UFC 335 (Sherdog)
• Israel Adesanya questions Alex Pereira's UFC 335 heavyweight gamble (Sherdog)
• Alex Pereira hints at light heavyweight return if he loses to Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 (MMA Fighting)
• Alex Pereira’s back-up plan if heavyweight doesn’t work out: ‘Fight for the light heavyweight bet’ (MMA Mania)
• Israel Adesanya questions Alex Pereira over recent admission on heavyweight plans: ‘I don’t like that’ (Bloody Elbow)
• Dominick Reyes names UFC's best commentator, again criticizes D.C. (Sherdog)
• Dominick Reyes continues to belittle Daniel Cormier over UFC 333 commentary (MMA Weekly)
• Dominick Reyes continues to slam Daniel Cormier for ‘F-plus’ grade UFC 333 commentary (MMA Fighting)
• Dominick Reyes grades the UFC 333 commentary team (r/MMA)
• Dominick Reyes accuses Daniel Cormier of not doing any research after UFC 333 feud was sparked (Bloody Elbow)

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA, episode 131 for October 27th, 2026.

Today's show is brought to you by Dealophant, from the team behind Open Scoring MMA. More on them in a minute. DUKE: Dana White just cracked the door open on one of the biggest super-fights the UFC could ever book, and it involves Alexander Volkanovski.
NORA: White said he's open to Volkanovski moving up to lightweight, and that's a massive statement given where Volk sits right now.
DUKE: Right, he just steamrolled Movsar Evloev at UFC 333, so he's clearly still the best featherweight on the planet.
NORA: But his coach Joe Lopez is already fielding options, and he actually accepted a fight against Charles Oliveira, with a little bit of a jab attached.
DUKE: A jab, meaning what?
NORA: Meaning the coach isn't exactly groveling for it, he's saying bring it on but don't act like it's a gift.
DUKE: That's the Volk camp's energy in general right now, confident, maybe a little chip on the shoulder.
NORA: And then you've got Arman Tsarukyan throwing his hat in from a totally different angle.
DUKE: Tsarukyan says Justin Gaethje is, quote, trying to duck me, end quote, and he's floated fighting Volkanovski for a vacant lightweight title instead.
NORA: That's a wild wrinkle, because Gaethje just won the BMF belt in June at UFC White House against Ilia Topuria.
DUKE: So why would the title be vacant at all?
NORA: It wouldn't, unless this is Tsarukyan positioning himself as the backup plan if Gaethje and Volkanovski actually do the legends fight.
DUKE: Which, by the way, White also opened the door to, a Volkanovski versus Gaethje super-fight.
NORA: Framed as a potential farewell bout for both of them, they're both thirty five.
DUKE: Thirty five and still this good, that's wild to think about.
NORA: It is, but then Volkanovski himself muddies it further by calling for a rematch with Topuria.
DUKE: To test himself, he said.
NORA: So you've got three different roads here: Oliveira at lightweight, Gaethje for the gold, or running it back with Topuria.
DUKE: Honestly, I think the Gaethje fight is the one that sells itself, two legends, one night, winner takes the mystique.
NORA: I get the romance of it, but from a rankings standpoint the Topuria rematch makes more sense if Volk wants to prove he belongs up there permanently.
DUKE: Fair, but nobody's walking away from a Gaethje farewell fight if it's offered.
NORA: No, nobody's walking away from that.
DUKE: Now on to the results, and we've got a weird one out of Denmark to deal with first.
NORA: Khusein Askhabov, a former UFC fighter, had his first-round TKO win over Reinaldo Ekson overturned to a disqualification.
DUKE: Overturned how?
NORA: The Danish MMA Federation ruled it a serious violation, Askhabov attacked Ekson in a way that crossed the line, and that flipped the result.
DUKE: And there were real consequences here, not just a stripped stat.
NORA: Askhabov and his cornermen all got twelve month suspensions out of it.
DUKE: That's a brutal way to lose a win you already celebrated.
NORA: According to reports, it happened at Airtox Dominance FC 8 in Copenhagen, and this review took about ten days to come down.
DUKE: Good reminder that regional commissions are watching tape just as closely as the big show does.
NORA: Now on to the fighter news, and we start with Merab Dvalishvili after UFC 333.
DUKE: Merab Dvalishvili lost to Petr Yan in their bantamweight fight, the co-main event in Abu Dhabi.
NORA: According to some reports, that was his first loss to Yan, and it effectively knocks him out of the one hundred thirty five pound title picture for now.
DUKE: But he already put out a statement, and the message was simple: he's healthy, he's motivated, and he's coming back quick.
NORA: That's the right tone to strike, he can't afford a long layoff if he wants back into that conversation.
DUKE: Agreed, the division's moving fast with Yan holding the belt now, and Dvalishvili needs to stay active.
Quick break for our sponsor. Dealophant shows the real price per unit on everyday Amazon buys, so you stop overpaying for the big box. It's free at dealophant dot com, and we may earn a commission if you buy. Now, back to the show. NORA: Sticking with UFC 333 fallout, Volkanovski also revealed something interesting about his title win over Movsar Evloev.
DUKE: He refused medication before the fight.
NORA: Just shows the mentality, the guy likes doing things the hard way, which honestly tracks with everything else we just talked about with him chasing the toughest possible next fight.
DUKE: And on a totally different note, we've got a retirement announcement.
NORA: Julian Erosa says he'll walk away from the sport at UFC Vegas 123, win or lose, when he fights Jeong Yeong Lee this Saturday, November 7th, in Las Vegas.
DUKE: Thirty seven years old, longtime featherweight vet, that's a respectful way to go out, on his own terms.
NORA: He said fighting used to be his life, and now he's closing that chapter on the prelims at Meta APEX.
DUKE: Hope he gets the walk-off win everybody wants to see.
NORA: Now on to the callouts, and there's a new name trying to get in Volkanovski's business.
DUKE: Rajabali Shaidullaev, the undefeated twenty and oh PFL and Rizin champion, says he wants to test himself against Volkanovski.
NORA: Twenty and oh is no joke, but he's never been in the UFC octagon against this level of competition.
DUKE: It's a big step up for Shaidullaev, and it's not clear where he'd fit into the current UFC landscape.
NORA: Not right now, no, but it's a callout worth filing away if the UFC ever lands him.
DUKE: Over to the heavyweight drama, because Alex Pereira is getting heat from multiple directions ahead of UFC 335.
NORA: Pereira faces Sergei Pavlovich on December 12th, and he expects Pavlovich to lean on wrestling instead of standing and trading.
DUKE: Smart read, Pavlovich knows he can't just brawl with Poatan.
NORA: But the bigger story is Pereira already admitting what happens if he loses: he's dropping back down to light heavyweight to, quote, fight for the belt, end quote.
DUKE: And Israel Adesanya does not love hearing that.
NORA: Adesanya straight up said, quote, I don't like that, end quote, questioning whether Pereira's even got the right headspace walking into a fight with an exit plan already built.
DUKE: I kind of get both sides here.
NORA: How so?
DUKE: Pereira's being realistic, heavyweight was always a gamble, but Adesanya's right that announcing your backup plan before the fight is a weird look of its own.
NORA: It does sound like a man hedging before he's even lost.
DUKE: Last callout of the day, and it's Dominick Reyes versus Daniel Cormier, and Reyes is not letting this go.
NORA: Reyes has been hammering Cormier's UFC 333 commentary, he literally gave it an F plus grade.
DUKE: And he's crowned Dominick Cruz the gold standard of UFC commentators in the same breath.
NORA: The feud started because Reyes felt Cormier was biased calling his knockout win over Azamat Murzakanov, and Reyes called him a low IQ hater on social media.
DUKE: Strong words for a broadcast booth disagreement.
NORA: Reyes has since piled on, accusing Cormier of not even doing his research before firing back.
DUKE: The Reddit community's having a field day grading out the whole commentary team over this, it's turned into its own mini soap opera.
NORA: It has, and I don't think it's cooling down anytime soon.
DUKE: Let's look ahead, because the schedule's stacked through the rest of the year.
NORA: This Saturday, November 7th, it's UFC Fight Night Moicano versus Nolan, Renato Moicano taking on Tom Nolan.
DUKE: Then the following Saturday, November 14th, Sean Brady meets Gabriel Bonfim.
NORA: And don't sleep on UFC 334 on November 14th, Ciryl Gane against Josh Hokit.
DUKE: Huge stretch of fights coming up.
NORA: Before we go, a quick note: our YouTube channel is live with breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos, and our free Fight Tracker is up too if you want to follow all of this in real time. That's the show.
DUKE: Catch you next time on Open Scoring MMA.

One more thing before we go.

If Volkanovski moves up, should it be Gaethje for the belt or Tsarukyan for the vacant strap, or does he run it back with Topuria instead?

And while you're here, two quick ones. Our free Fight Tracker is at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed.

That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.